Oregon Brushfire Wars
The Oregon Brushfire Wars are a series of conflicts in Oregon beginning in 2265 involving the encroachment of the New California Republic into Cascadia, invoking reactions from a myriad of different groups, some pro-NCR, others not so much. Origins and Previous Conflicts (2248-2265) Background (2248-2259) The origins of the Oregon Brushfire Wars lie with the developing relations between the Core Region and Cascadia in the 2200s. The bridge between the regions started with the burgeoning gecko trapping industry. Towns supported by this emerging industry included Klamath Falls, Siskiyou, and Fremont. The Gecko hides taken from the north in Cascadia were traded for goods from the south. These trapper towns on the border of the Core Region and Cascadia grew slowly in the early 2200s but took off later with the arrival of two entities: the New California Republic and the Crimson Caravan. Emissaries of New California Republic first came to region in the 2240s after their victory over the Enclave and slavers, offering stability and wealth (at least until the NCR-Brotherhood War). Many of the trapper towns joined the NCR as a result, bringing not just NCR taxes and NCR troopers but also NCR settlers, wanting to brave the Oregon frontier. These settlers mostly formed their own isolated homesteads but some of them were instrumental in the founding of Fort Eugene. The Crimson Caravan quickly followed the NCR north. Existed outsposts such as Gecko Falls grew to accompidate growing traffic. Crimson Caravan forged further north ahead of the NCR's expansion to search for new trade, facilitating the creation of settlements such as Morden and Fort Eugene. This brought the caravan into conflict with the local Oregon tribals numerous times, but that did not affect their bottom line. The gecko trapping industry flourished, and the region's civilized inhabitants prospered from the trade. Fort Eugene, established by an alliance of NCR settlers and Cascadian caravaners in 2248, especially benefited from trade in the region as NCR money flooded north. Crimson Caravan did not just want to rely on trapping though. Seeing Cascadia's potential as a resource rich region, they also began to introduce large scale prosepecting in Oregon as well as creating a foundling lumber industry. NCR prospectors also streamed north, looking for new scrap, technology, or treasure to loot from Cascadia's ruins. These NCR prospectors would displace local prospectors and scavengers while also pissing off the Oregon tribals as well. They mostly focused on looting ruins in Portland and Salem, burrowing to search for buried treasure. These little pet projects of the Crimson Caravan were outside of the NCR's sphere of influence in their early days, and the caravan acted with impunity, cutting down entire forests and cleaning out ruins, abandoned or not. This often provoked negative reactions from the local Oregon tribals. The NCR, occupied with fighting the Brotherhood of Steel at that time, could have cared less what the caravan did, and the caravan cared little to none about the feelings of the tribals. The prospecting was what eventually triggered the first of the NCR's many wars with the Oregon tribals of Cascadia. The Oregon tribals, always seen as pests by the civilized folk of Cascadia for their cannibalism and primitive ways, were becoming further agitated in the 2250s by the recent arrival of not just the NCR but also Badlanders and the Sons of Liberty from the north. So when in 2259 they caught wind that their goddess Caryn's shrine in the ruins of Myrtle Creek had been looted by NCR prospectors, the tribals of northern Oregon were fed up and readied themselves for retribution. Led by the slightly mutated Chief Big Head, the Oregon tribal army went south to protect their heritage. Many of the other Oregon tribes in the south did not think this way, not wanting war with a powerful nation such as the NCR. Some tribes such as Chief Cardigan's even worked with the NCR to protect caravans and to alleviate conflict conflicts with other tribals. That could not stop the inevitable though and in 2259, the Ruins War began. Ruins War (2259) The Ruins War was the first war in the ongoing NCR-Oregon tribal conflict that started as many wars do, cultural misunderstandings. For the violation of their sacred ruins, Oregon tribals marched south to kill prospectors and any NCR they found. Sparked by NCR prospectors violating a tribal shrine near Myrtle Creek, the Ruins Wars spiraled our of control rather quickly. In southern Oregon, a tribal army burned and pillaged NCR-allied settlements while an alliance of angered locals attacked NCR prospectors in Portland. NCR managed to end the war in just a few weeks by defeating the tribal army in the field at Mad River and negotiating a peace with the locals in Portland. Things seemed calm after that. Operation: RED TRAIL (2262) Operation: RED TRAIL was another war in the NCR-Oregon tribal conflict, though this time it was initiated by the NCR, seeing the tribals as obstructing their plans for Cascadia. This was what turned most of Cascadia against the NCR. This war was of a less legitimate nature than the last one or even the next one. several NCR units along with Badlanders from the Twin Pines Pack, slaughtered several tribes who had banded together to fight off NCR's oppression. The tribes in question called a large area of valuable timber and mineral rich soil their ancestral homeland and had the gall to deny NCR access to the territory. Though peaceful negotiation was attempted, the tribals refused all of NCR's offers, and so NCR mobilized the elite forces of the Twin Pines Pack and Taskforce Nomad, along with the Special Operations and Reconnaissance Squadron, to eliminate the tribals in a brutal preemptive strike. To this day it is unknown if the NCR presidency was even aware of the action before it was taken, and many, including members of the Taskforce and Badlander mercs who took part in the massacre, believe a joint interest group of senators and cattle barons funded the operation. This war resulted in a lot of tribals dead, a lot of businessmen happy, and a lot of trust broken between NCR and the people of Cascadia. It seemed that any expansion NCR made from now on would have to be through warfare. Oregon Brushfire Wars (2262-) The Brushfire War (2262-2263) The first war in the overall Oregon Brushfire Wars, the Brushfire War was an attempt by the NCR to repeat Operation: RED TRAIL that failed because of the actions of Chief Kill-a-Ton. This led to the creation of Stern's Raiders and the Northwestern Alliance. The Brushfire War was a highly publicized campaign against native tribes in the far north of the Oregon region that lasted about a week and rages on to some extent to this day in the form of the Smouldering War. The elite forces of the NCR, Taskforce Nomad and the Heavy Infantry, were sent north to Fort Eugene to help deal with the newly formed Oregon Confederacy that was threatening NCR traders and settlers in northern Oregon. The NCR expected to crush the tribals just like it had before but was surprised by a preemptive attack south of Fort Eugene before NCR’s forces connected. Taskforce Nomad and the Heavy Infantry were surrounded by the forces of the Oregon Confederacy and completely outnumbered. The NCR garrison at Fort Eugene were unable to assist them because of their distance from the town. So, the NCR higher-ups made a difficult choice: use their limited supply of vertibirds to save the Heavy Infantry and leave behind Taskforce Nomad. The Heavy Infantry were successfully evacuated back to New California and had a low casualty rate. This actually saved the Brushfire War from being a complete failure but also set up problems down the road. The Oregon Confederacy were still not dealt with, and abandoned Taskforce Nomad would go on to become Stern's Raiders, a thorn in NCR’s side for years to come. The War of the Northwestern Alliance (2267-2270) The War of the Northwestern Alliance was a war where the NCR fought with the newly created Northwestern Alliance, a coalition of settlers, tribals, and paramilitaries. It was the largest war Cascadia had ever seen and led to the rise of a new force to be reckoned with, the FNA. After being abandoned in the conclusion of the Brushfire War, Stern's Raiders began riling up already existing discontent within Oregon and Cascadia at large. This was done through various means, whether it being cleaning up Enclave remnants or helping out homesteaders. This won Stern’s Raiders local supporters as NCR further alienated many in Cascadia with their expansionism. The anti-NCR sentiment in Cascadia and the actions of Stern’s Raiders eventually created something bigger in 2266: the Northwestern Alliance. An alliance of various anti-NCR interests, this alliance was not only up against NCR but also the caravan companies and Badlander packs who supported it. At the same time, the NCR would juggle its commitment between this war and the war against the Brotherhood of Steel. It would be a hard fight for everyone. The war began in 2267 over some shots fired at Fort Eugene and lasted three years. It proved to be one the NCR’s most arduous and the most devastating for the Pacific Northwest since the Great War itself. Northern Oregon in particular suffered during the fighting from the ravages of both sides as the NCR forced the Alliance’s forces further and further north, hoping to break their stranglehold on Fort Eugene and valuable trade routes. Although Fort Eugene fell, the NCR eventually succeeded at their goals of opening up trade routes and defeated the Northwestern Alliance, mostly through the help of the their new allies, the Free Northwestern Army. The Battle of Black Peak utterly broke any organized resistance the civilized people of Cascadia had left with only tribals fighting on. So, for the NCR, the war was effectively over after that and they more or less withdrew from the region, patting themselves on the backs for a job well done. The Purification War (2269) A relatively short period in the wider Oregon Brushfire Wars, the Purification War was still important as it helped further convince the NCR that direct involvement in Cascadia would only lead to more wasted blood. The Purifiers has always been a hazard for travel around southern Oregon and the time the Oregon Brushfire Wars had started, NCR was just about done with them. A military operation had been planned against Hell’s Gate at least since 2267 but was only carried out in 2269 with the help of Badlanders and the FNA. The siege of Hell’s Gate lasted three days until the Purifiers simply decided to blow up their volcano base, taking much of the infantry taking part in the operation with them. It was considered something of a success for removing the Purifiers but is still seen by many as a black mark on the NCR’s record. The Purification War cost the NCR the most soldiers of any one operation until the First Battle of Hoover Dam. The Smouldering War (2270-) The Smoldering War is the next step in the NCR-Oregon tribal conflict that has gone on for more than thirty years. Though the Free Northwestern Army mostly fights on the NCR's behalf and has grow tremendously in recent years, Oregon tribals in Oregon continue to harass the NCR border. This war started immediately after the end of the Northwestern Alliance and has raged ever since. The Oregon Confederacy refuses to give up and continues to fight a low-intensity war with the FNA and NCR. Casualties from this war have been minimal, as neither side seems to interested in making any big moves yet (unless the Oregon tribals actually try to cut off trade). Some major battles have occurred over the years, but they are usually few and far between. Homesteaders in Oregon are also caught up in this war, as both the FNA and the Oregon Confederacy have been harassing them in recent years. The FNA want to persuade homesteaders to join them while the tribals just raid the homesteaders sometimes. Most homesteaders hate the FNA so there have been no big ‘turncoats’ yet but some have and will if nothing changes. The "Cascadian Civil War" (2277-) The "Cascadian Civil War" is an ongoing conflict that directly resulted from the unanswered questions stemming from the end of the War of the Northwestern Alliance: what would the spread of the newly created NCR-allied Free Northwestern Army mean for wider Cascadia and what would the Badlanders do in relation to the FNA? The FNA emerged as the true victors of the War of the Northwestern Alliance, barely accountable to anyone in what was practically a power vacuum. With the help of NCR, it seemed like only a matter of time until they completely took over Cascadia. As usual though, it would not be that easy. The FNA splintered after the death of General Randy Adams in 2272, and various cells across Cascadia developed with very little central authority. They were still dangerous and often waged little wars on their own but with little coordination. That changed in 2277 when General Tyrone Creed reestablished connections with the FNA central command in Grant's Pass and with their help conquered part of central Oregon. Since then, the FNA has become increasingly coordinated in battle, fighting fronts in Portland, NAP Territory, and Route 101. Little progress has been made in the last decade admittedly, but the FNA still persist, chipping away the rest of Cascadia. The Badlanders serve as their sometimes allies sometimes enemies, another issue that will have to be confronted eventually. NCR has mostly let the FNA have free reign besides some military advisors in Grant’s Pass and certain ‘favors’ to secure funding. Cascadia just does not interest the Republic as much anymore, with their main focus being New Vegas and the Mojave. Category:History Category:Cascadia